Two tugs assist the motor vessel Sparna, a 623-foot Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier with a load of grain, after the vessel reportedly ran aground in the Columbia River near Cathlamet, Wash., March 21, 2016. A salvage plan must be approved by the Coast Guard before the vessel can be refloated. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Levi Read)
An ocean-going freighter that ran aground in the Columbia River early Monday has a hole 25 feet long and 5 inches wide, with a boulder lodged in the fracture, the Coast Guard announced today.
The MV Sparna was headed from Portland to Japan, fully loaded with grain, when it ran aground near Cathlamet, downstream of Longview.
An inspection by divers found several other fractures in the hull of the 623-foot vessel.
Two watertight compartments of the ship are reported to be flooded with river water, but so far none of the approximately 260,000 gallons of fuel on board has been observed to be leaking into the river.
The ship is not sinking. Two tugs are with the vessel, according to the Coast Guard, to keep it from drifting into the shipping channel.
The plan is for it to be taken upstream to the Port of Longview on Wednesday. From there it will have to be repaired, likely at Portland’s Swan Island, which has a large drydock.
No injuries have been reported.
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